New dairy hub started in Keiyo South

October 25, 2010

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By CORRESPONDENT, NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 25 – Tetra Pak Eastern Africa Limited has partnered with New KCC and the East African Dairy Development Project (EADD) to launch the second state of the art dairy hub at Metkei in Keiyo South District.

The new hub is aimed at developing the dairy sector value chain and create a more sustainable source of milk in the district and brings together over 2,000 registered farmers from Metkei, Kipsaos, Kapkitony and Tulwobei cooperative societies.

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“The intention was to bring together players in the local dairy value chain by sharing expertise and resources so as to increase the quantity and quality of milk processed through the cooling plants established by EADD. This is expected to bring sustainability in the sector and ensure milk availability all year round,” Tetra Pak Project Manager Walter Ogonje said.

Upon completion of the cooling plants, the Metkei Dairy Hub would be able to handle approximately 15,000 litres of milk per day.

This milk will be collected by New KCC and packed in long life packages at the Nyahururu satellite cooling plant with a capacity of 5,000kg.

East African Dairy Development Project will provide technical support to ascertain longevity of the project while undertaking studies to improve production and sustainability in the dry season.

Tetra Pak will in turn cover the costs of consultancy for the value chain study on milk availability, collection patterns and practices including proposing strategies and resource requirements.

The food processing and packaging company will also equip the farmers with food grade containers for transporting and packaging of milk to satellite collection centres and the cooling plant.

With the Dairy hub, milk production will benefit from collection systems that will be set up in the area with an aim of improving farmers’ standards of living. Farmers will also have easier access to essential inputs and services such as feeds, breeding technology and vet services.

“The current system is too reliant on weather patterns as evidenced. The dairy hub’s aim is to support the entire value chain. We are committed to working with the sector players with an overall aim of introducing professionalism in the dairy industry whilst ensuring processors have consistent quantity and quality of milk supply throughout the year,” he said.

Among other benefits that will accrue to farmers include the introduction of modern breeding methods to improve productivity and the immunisation of all dairy animals and which would be done in conjunction with EADD that will also facilitate training for Metkei management, milk collectors and cooling plant operations among others.

The Metkei dairy hub is the second initiative undertaken by Tetra Pak, East African Dairy Development and the New KCC to improve milk production in the country.

The pilot project launched at Kokiche in Sotik town earlier this year targets 30,000 dairy farmers and has a potential production capacity of 112,500 litres per day.